I was truly overwhelmed with the support, encouragement and prayers from friends and family. I have not been able to keep up with all the texts and messages that I have received so I decided to write up my experience so all could read and I did not leave people out!
April 15, 2013 I was angry in the morning because I was at
school waiting to take a practical and was not at the boston marathon. The
bombings happened as I was driving home from my practical. When I turned my TV on to continue following the marathon is when I saw what
happened and I was in shock. I was angry again but now for a different reason,
this time was because that could have been my friends and family. I am the one
who chooses to run the race and I love having the supports of family and
friends and to think that they could be hurt while cheering me on was not easy
for me.
When Kelly approached me in the fall and said we need to run
Boston I was all in and was ecstatic when I found out I got in and would be
running the 118th Boston Marathon.
I arrived in Boston on Saturday and from my flight into
Boston I knew it was going to be amazing. The airplane was filled with some of
the fittest people as it was almost all people running Boston. As I walked
around Boston on Saturday and Sunday there were signs everywhere you went
welcoming and thanking the runners.
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| Quincy market on saturday |
I went to the race expo on Sunday to pick
up my bib which is when it started becoming real that I was running Boston the
next day. That evening I went to Fenway park to watch the Red Sox play the
Orioles. Before the game they had the directors for One Fund, medical staff,
and families of the victims from the bombings. At that moment I teared up
thinking about everything that was happening.
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| entering the expo at Hynes convention center |
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| At the finish line Sunday |
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| At the Red Sox game Sunday evening with Phil and Mallory |
Monday morning I got up and was on my way to the buses so I
could head to the start line. It was a long bus ride to the start, but as one
runner said everyone is your best friend at that point. I was talking to
multiple people, some who had ran Boston before, some who were there last year,
and some who were newbies like me. Upon arriving at athletes village I was
taken aback by how many people there were, every piece of grass was covered
with people laying and waiting to start. I tried to find my friends, but it was
kind of hopeless even though we had picked a meeting place. As my time to head
to the start line neared I headed to the medical tent and put on some
sunscreen(which you wouldn’t know seeing my sunburns) and had them write my
name on my arm with a sharpie. I then headed out and started walking to the
start line.
There was around a .6 mile walk to the start line itself
during which time I was talking to those around me and it was just awesome
being able to hear everyone’s stories. At this point I started to realize how
amazing the support was going to be along the way as there were people standing
in their yards cheering us on as we were just walking to the start!
I was
crossing the starting line before I knew it and on my journey from Hopkinton
to Boston! I can not really recount in words the experience I had the next 26.2
miles, but I am going to try to give you an abbreviated version and I know I will miss things. The whole way there were crowds of people, and there was almost never a
spot without people cheering you on. The people in Boston know how to support
the marathoners as there were people with orange slices, water, pretzels,
twizzlers, tissues, wet paper towels, and even beer along the course. I always
love reading the various signs that people come up with along a marathon, and
this was definitely no different. Many, many Boston Strong, thank you runners,
etc. I enjoyed giving high fives to a lot of the kids along the way and taking
in the sights. Since I had put my name on my arm I had people screaming for me
the whole way which was super cool. The Wellesley girls are no joke, you truly
can hear their screams from a mile away! I also got to pass team Hoyt which was
inspiring and just awesome to cheer them on while running. They say the first
half is downhill which is a cruel joke, as it was all rolling hills which do
not exist in Columbus, OH. Needless to say, my quads were taking a beating and
I realized that it was not going to be my best race, but I was going to finish
Boston and enjoy it which became my goal. The hill before heartbreak is worse
than heartbreak and I was mad when I realized it wasn’t heartbreak hill, but
when I cleared heartbreak hill that was a relief! From that point on the crowds
just grew till the end when the crowds were easily 6+ people deep on both sides
of the street. I had headphones in one ear, but at that point it just did not
matter because you couldn’t really hear the music anyhow. Crossing that finish
line was an amazing feeling and I had some more tears then. Tears of happiness,
tears of pain, tears of joy, I had done it, I had finished the Boston marathon.
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| post race with Phil |
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| post race with Kelly |
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| OSU DPT 2015 does the Boston Marathon! |
At that point I hobbled and limped my way to where I was
meeting my friend Phil who had come to cheer us on. Over the rest of Monday and
the time I spent in Boston on Tuesday I continued to feel the city’s support as
people everywhere would say congrats and thank you. I had a guy stop me Tuesday
morning who said he was at the finish line for 8 hours and it was the happiest
he has been in a while and how thankful he was that I had come to run. This
support continued all the way to the airport as they let those of us who ran
Boston board the plane first and the other passengers began cheering for us. When
I arrived to columbus I was surprised by my two best friends who had crafted a
handmade pipecleaner flower bouqet. Their surpises continued as they had
decorated my apartment door with a poster and balloons letting me know I was
number one in their hearts, the cutest boston marathoner and faster than Usain
Bolt(their lies were appreciated).
Overall it was a humbling experience. As I was crossing the checkpoints in the race I told myself
that everyone was getting this update so I better make it good. I was not able
to keep up with the messages I was getting Monday and Tuesday which proves how
awesome a support system I have been blessed with. Thank you so much to all of you!
Hannah Gibbs
